This, I Believe..

I believe coffee tastes better in a ceramic mug with a story, paired with a bean with it's own story (of fallow field and seedling turned ready to harvest, plucked, selected and roasted with deep love and care). Bonus points, of course, if the mug was picked for you by a beloved friend or loved one. This deeply savored coffee ritual means a great deal to me. It is a vital part of my mental health routine and it feels fundamentally full of light. 

I believe that nature contains vibrant healing properties; that our very souls can lift and our stress can ease when our flesh comes into contact with dirt and leaves and bark and cold water from rivers, lakes and oceans. 

I believe that music has the power to heal and restore. That the right four chords on a Sunday morning are rhythmic liturgy and can reconnect your mind and body with stories and tones and words and corporeal movements that live deep in your skin and soul (and in your ancient cellular DNA). And when you let the songs seep into your bones, I believe it allows you to commune with your ancestors, to hear Their stories, and to feel the unbroken connection from their hearts and their world to yours.

I believe community, in and of itself, to be a sacred thing; whether this is a community of your fellow creative misfits, a tribe connected by shared culture or a loose aggregate of wild-eyed wanderers that feel like home. Because I also believe that we humans bear the image of our creator and that the universe longs to know itself, to see and be seen, to love and be loved. So I believe that when we gather, whatever our particular beliefs, stories, backgrounds; if goodness flows and people are held, heard, safe and loved, community is a sacred thing. 

And I believe, as Henri Nouwen wrote, that hospitality is the act of meeting people where they are, loving people for who they are, and affirming their dignity as deeply, ineffably loved. 

What do you believe?

Commandeer the Manosphere (Let's Talk, Fam!)

You're not a Lone Wolf. You're not an Alpha Dog. You're not a Warrior Stoic. You're not a solitary Viking marauder on some ancient quest. You're a man. Your back was built to carry your children (and the children in your community). Your heart was built to protect and hold space for the vulnerable and to show up for the people you love. Your hands were built to build and maintain the structures (both physical and emotional) that keep your loved ones and your community safe, protected, loved.

Come back to the pack, Brother. Come home. Come find reservoirs of strength, love and courage you never knew you had. Enough with this toxic alpha shift. Enough with blaming everyone else. Enough with being a victim of your own story. Enough with performative masculinity. Enough with equating manhood with violence, manipulation and power. Enough aggrieved entitlement. You have the gifts and the strength to rebuilt, redesign and radically create a beautiful life.

Time to Grow Up and Come Home.

Be a steward. Listen. Heal. Break destructive cycles, toxic patterns and generational curses. Embody the healthiest version of yourself. Go to therapy. Read, Improve. Apologize. Move your body. Forge new traditions to pass on to your children or your community. Dance. Lift heavy things. Laugh, Go to doctor's appointments. Let your tribe know you love them. Love them hard. Be open with your feelings and express them. Set better examples. Become the person you needed when you were a child. Be worthy of the unconditional love and trust your children, your family and your community have in you.